NEW Battery Tip - Applicable to some T, X, R ThinkPad models and batteries

[Mark_Lenovo Administrator]

A limited number of ThinkPad users have reported the following symptoms:

• Irreparable damage or battery cannot be charged error message from Power Manager or Message Center
  OR
• Low battery capacity, as indicated by short battery run time or sudden drops in the battery fuel gauge

Only the following ThinkPad Models and battery FRU part numbers are affected by this issue:

ThinkPad	Battery FRU part number
R60, R61, T60, T61	42T4546, 42T4566, 92P1141
X60, X61	42T4550, 42T4567, 42T4568, 92P1169, 92P1173, 93P5028, 93P5030

CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

[jimkellycpa]

Mark

I ran 1st battery gauge reset on my sanyo battery (new as of 11/07) on 08/03/09 - and within 2 days I get the" Irreparable damage or battery cannot be charged error message" - but my fru 42T4504 doesn't match the fru's that are part of the recall - so, even though mine fails - around the same time I'm SOL - is this just a coincidence - have others reported the same failure with the sayno battery - what is the sufficient no of complaints to get on the replacement list??

Is there an alternative way to get a replacement without paying full price

My batteries generally last 3 years - and that with reasonably heavy use

Thanks

[ethicsprof]

Join the club. Same battery. I couldn't even receive sympathy, let alone help. This battery is being ignored.

[ethicsprof]

Add the FRU42T5404     Running an R61i

Same error message, same onset as everyone else (sudden catastrophic failure), NO support from Lenovo at all. The service tech. didn't know anything about recalls. He wouldn't give me anybody else. He did give me another number to call which turned out to be IBM!

I'm not advising anybody in my department looking to replace computers through me to get a Lenovo.

[JiriAPet]

To jimkellycpa:

Hi, I have the same error for the same battery. FRU 42T4504, SANYO. Error after 18 months of use, total 101 cycles. My error appeared few cycles after first battery reset made via Power Manager.
Still has over 80 percent of capacity, but rejects to discharge and charge, reports as faulty same way as described in the recall.

The issue happened this way: Was discarging in normal use from 39 % to 22, 18, 15 %, after that adapter was attached, charging started normally, after reaching cca 84 % adapter removed and I thought I will continue runing on battery as ususal, but notebook was immediately switched off as without any battery. Battery communicates with the notebook and reports it has over 80 % of full charge, but cannot be used. The reported capacity is continually descending as when was usable - ie slowly.

[JiriAPet]

My faulty battery (FRU 42T4504, SANYO) is from R61.

[Safwan]

My first battery worked fine for 3 years after that i hav ebought two sanyo batteries and both are giving the same error. after first 2 cycles they dropped to 78% of the original charge capacity. Can anybody help? which battery shd i get now? i have R60e. or shd i change my laptop?

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

i will avoid Sanyo batteries, in my opinion they are low quality and i have 3 sanyo that failed so far, one is within warranty. Sanyo batteries got a bad rep even in the Apple community. 

[ancientpcgeek]

Hello!

I've had a R60e since Nov 2007. I have had no problems with the Sanyo battery, and until last week, no issues with the ThinkPad at all. The problem turned out to be a HDD issue and I received a replacement in 1 day.

There are many battery manufacturers, making all kinds of batteries for all kinds of stuff. OK so Sanyo has a bad rep. For me, when this one craps out, as they all do, I'll replace it with the same Sanyo battery. This one still gives me 3+ hours worktime, and recharges very quickly, even if I'm using it.

Can't jump on this bandwagon.

[shavit28]

I have R61i, recently the battery was depleting very fast, and yesterday it died. There's a message "a battery error has occurred. The battery cannot be charged. Replace the battery".

I believe I am eligible for replacement, but I cannot run the battery diagnostic tool. I turned off firewall and antivirus, but nothing. Any suggestions?

Thanks